


Two Drifters (Off to See the World)

by spideysmjs



Series: Spideychelle Week 2020 [1]
Category: Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies)
Genre: Discussions of Long Distance, Established Relationship, F/M, Light Angst, Michelle Jones Cinematic Universe, Roadtrips
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-21
Updated: 2020-06-21
Packaged: 2021-03-04 11:07:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24848770
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spideysmjs/pseuds/spideysmjs
Summary: MJ starts tearing up. “I’m just scared of all of this, okay?”“What do you mean?”“All of this,” she throws her arms around the air. “College. Moving away. Not being around you."When Peter and MJ drive to Harvard for a college tour, MJ can't stop thinking about everything she has to live without. Like veggie hoagies from Delmar, family dinners, and Peter.
Relationships: Michelle Jones/Peter Parker
Series: Spideychelle Week 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1797640
Comments: 24
Kudos: 77
Collections: Spideychelle Week 2020





	Two Drifters (Off to See the World)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [KatieThelie](https://archiveofourown.org/users/KatieThelie/gifts).



> Happy Spideychelle Week, my beautiful friends!
> 
> This fic is inspired by a wonderful artwork that my friend, Katie, created. Check it out on [Tumblr!](https://kittenkatsart.tumblr.com/post/621546351158788096/day-1-road-trip-au)

“Hey, I’ll be down soon, I think I might toast an Eggo before leaving,” MJ yawns into the speakerphone, rubbing her eyes and pacing around her kitchen. She pulls out the mental checklist in her head for the weekend, making sure she’s brought all her essentials for skincare at night. 

Touring Harvard will only take two days and one night. It’s a hard truth to swallow knowing she’d be walking in the halls of her future alma mater. She submitted her intent to register on May 1st, using the last possible day to do so. For dramatic effects, mostly. But a little part of her was scared to face reality, too.

“No don’t!” Peter says over the phone, “I’m downstairs, and I bought you a vegetarian hoagie from Delmar’s.”

“But you didn’t smush it right?” she stops pacing around the living room. 

“Nope, just mine.”

“I’ll be down soon,” she hangs up the phone.

MJ lingers in the silence of the living room for a moment, taking in the stillness of her home — the chaos of getting ready for the road trip and tossing all her packets from Harvard into a backpack has left her alone. Now, she sinks her feet onto the carpet knowing she only has a couple of months of this familiar cave of childhood and adolescent memories. It’s still as fluffy as it has been when she’d crawl on the floor like a little kid.

No one will believe her, but MJ’s earliest memories go way back to when she couldn’t even walk yet. It’s one of her go-to answers for two truths and a lie. It’s always picked as a lie, even over “I’ve been to California three times.”

Her phone vibrates again, and she remembers they’re trying to beat the long weekend traffic in Aunt May’s ‘95 Corolla. She’s surprised May even let them steal the two decade old car for the weekend, especially since Peter had only recently (finally) passed his driver’s test (the third time). But when MJ admitted over family dinner with Peter and May that her mom didn’t have time to take her to Harvard’s campus until the semester starts in September, May’s eyes softened as she explained that college tours were her favorite part of senior year.

The next morning at AP Calc, Peter said, “We’re going to Cambridge in May.” 

* * *

MJ slips out of her combat boots and sports her fuzzy Yoda socks as she props her right leg over her left thigh, bending the tips of her toes while also shaking her thigh. 

“Nervous about my driving?” Peter pouts, both hands stuck on the wheel — his posture straight and firm. 

“First of all,” she says, “I’m nervous whenever you do anything, Parker. And second of all, extremely nervous that this car might not make it all the way to Cambridge.”

He winces but relaxes. “It’s gonna be fine. This is May’s baby. She can make it.”

It’s just about a three-hour drive from Queens to Cambridge. That’s if you have a car. With a train, it takes double that. Maybe if Peter swings, it’ll be faster than a train, at least. Or maybe May will be willing to lend this car again. 

She takes a deep breath. Though they’re taking the trip together, this Harvard journey isn’t about _them._ It’s about MJ. And her future. 

But damn, she does hope Peter’s there.

Her stomach growls. 

“Delmar’s sandwich is in the backseat,” he says. 

MJ detangles her long limbs before she brings herself over the console to clutch the crumpled brown bag. “Did you eat yours already?” 

“I ate _both_ of mine,” he says pridefully. “Sorry.”

“It’s okay, dork,” she wrinkles her face imagining the site of Peter crunching on his two flattened subs all before 8:30am. MJ unravels her Italian veggie sandwich and inhales the aromas that remind her of home — the smells that take her back to her after school study “dates” with Peter towards the end of sophomore year when she believed her crush on him was unrequited. It was those days when she hid behind her books, only willing to quip quick remarks for humor as if she was an extra in a movie. 

Each bite of the sandwich is phenomenal. Each bite reminds her of a new memory. She wonders if it’ll be easy to make new memories on a campus full of strangers. 

“I’m gonna miss Delmar’s,” she says in between bites, closing her eyes in gustatory satisfaction. “It’s the only bodega between school and home that has a vegetarian option.”

When she sneaks a glance at Peter, his lips are fighting a frown. He takes a deep breath before saying, “You’re going to have more than just a few subway stops to discover all the vegetarian sandwich shops that exist.”

It’s true. There’s a world outside of the streets in between Midtown and Delmar. 

But it’s only May, and MJ’s not ready for the rest of the world just yet. She uses her left hand, luckily the least infested with crumbs, to reach for Peter. Immediately, he slips one hand off the wheel and squeezes hers. 

“I love you,” she looks at him with glossy eyes, her voice still croaking from the morning. The tip of Peter’s ears still glows just as red as they were when MJ kissed him for the first time. 

“I love you,” he returns, firmly and certain. Peter always says I and never says _too._ She noticed the fourth or fifth time they said it to each other. She doesn’t question it because there’s nothing to question — the same reason _why_ , MJ figures, Peter declares his love the way that he does. 

The world is right here. 

* * *

When they reach the dorms after five hours (they had multiple bathroom stops and a collision accident on the highway), an RA volunteers to check them in for the College Tour weekend. Since MJ’s from out of state, offering a place to stay is the least Harvard could do considering they reap hundreds of thousands of dollars from students and alumni every year. As soon as they reached the suite, they walked over to 5173B and opened the door to an empty full bed and desk. 

It’s spacious, the curtains are open wide and expose the sunlight dripping into the single bedroom. 

Peter audibly gulps. MJ smirks. 

They’re alone — a sneak peeks to the moments they’ll share when Peter finds a weekend to come and visit. She decides to freshen up in the communal restrooms in an attempt to make herself more presentable to all of the college kids she’ll be introducing herself to in a couple of hours, after speeches from Important People that MJ hasn’t had the time to research for, which she usually does.

The hallway feels endless like she can easily get lost. MJ’s always been a champ when it comes to new things, but this is really new. She’s going to be three hours away from all the people she’s grown up with. Three hours away from her own mother. 

_Find the bathroom, Jones._

As she cleanses her face, two other girls walk into the stall area, chatting about future plans to join different organizations. 

“It’s, like, kind of lame Harvard doesn’t have frats or sororities,” she says, arms crossed leaning against the tile wall. Her friend, who has found her way into the stall, responds. 

“I _know_ , but Sean is so relieved frat bros won’t have the chance to do body shots off me at a sleazy party.”

Some people truly have different priorities. Michelle pats her face softly with a towel. 

“I can’t believe you’re going into college dating someone.”

Her friend scoffs from the toilet. “ _Love_ Sean, but the Turkey Drop exists. Sorry, not sorry.”

The two girls chuckle like her joke is the funniest thing in the world. It makes MJ’s stomach churn. She runs out of the restrooms. 

When she swings the door open, Peter jumps from the bed, yawning and stretching. How long has she been gone? 

“Are spiders narcoleptic?” she jokes. 

“Not that I know of. Maybe it’s just me.”

“Or all of the sandwiches you ate this morning. Are you sure you want to walk all over campus with me today? It’s just some welcome speeches and talking to a lot of people.” 

“ _Just_?” Peter places a heart on his chest. “It’s not just this or that, Em. Of course, I want to come with you!”

His excitement excites her in a way that makes her anxious. The feeling creeping in her gut is still hard to place, the thoughts of the ends of eras taking over her brain. She smiles at him quietly and nods to the door, so they can get started. 

It’s about 2pm when they reach Memorial Hall, and the Dean of Student Affairs is marching up to welcome the prospective students. Peter keeps walking down the aisles, closer to the front, but MJ quickly grabs his hand and leads him to the back left corner to two empty seats quietly tucked in. He shrugs and follows her lead. 

“This is a pretty theater,” he whispers to her as the crowd applauses the dean. “In just four months, you’re gonna have lectures here!”

She breathes, heart pumping. “Yeah.”

“Welcome class of 2028, we are so excited to have you all!” 

There’s a loud roar from the audience. Memorial Hall is packed, prospective students intently listening to the speech, and parents scattered around them. Peter’s whispering little “whoop whoops” in MJ’s ear, followed by his special Parker commentary on literally anything that he sees.

“Look at that baby,” he points to their left, down the aisle to the last seat. The baby in question is a bulldog sitting on a mom’s lap. The bulldog keeps fidgeting with its leash. “What if it just jumps out of her lap and starts running to the stage?”

“Don’t try anything,” MJ jokes. Peter snorts, and they both start cackling but stop when a kid their age glares at them from the row in front. 

The speech continues, numbers being thrown out of the Dean’s mouth to make the university sound even more prestigious as if these parents have not spent worrying hours researching Buzzfeed or Facebook posts titled _What to Worry About as a Prospective Havard Parent_. MJ’s done a lot of her own research about the campus, but she’s not very impressed. The educational institution is absolutely not impressive. But it’s Harvard — it’s her father’s alma mater. He’s made history here, and that’s what she plans to do the moment the semester begins in September. 

But right now, she’s still a Midtown Tech Tiger, and she’s not ready to let that title go. She’s not ready to stop making history in the halls she used to quietly walk through until she found her favorite space as an Academic Decathlon captain and finally made all of her friends. 

When the speech ends, another begins. There’s a total of three Peter and MJ have to sit through. The information isn’t hard to digest, especially because by the third one, they’re hearing the same regurgitated words thrown around. And the third speaker tries to insert too many jokes, like Mr. Harrington’s pep talks before an Academic Decathlon competition. 

By the time they walk away from Memorial Hall, outside the darkness of the theater, the glaring sunlight shocks MJ’s eyes. She’d forgotten the time, only realizing that they should find a place to eat because Peter’s stomach sounds like it’s caving in.

“Don’t worry about having to pick,” he points his finger up. “I did some research.”

MJ lifts one eyebrow. In her time knowing him, Peter has done extensive research on three things:

  1. Spider-man villains
  2. Star Wars conspiracy theories
  3. Different analyses of MJ’s favorite books



It’s gestures like this that truly remind her why she loves him.

“Lay out all the options on me, Parker.”

“Well, there’s Bartley’s Burgers. It’s super famous. I checked and there are vegetarian options. There’s also just an entire plaza we can walk around before going back to college tours related stuff.”

After having Peter list out all of the restaurants and the options that stood out to him on their respective menus, MJ opts for Bartley’s. He rolls his eyes. “You just looked so darn cute talking about your research.”

“Thanks,” he softens. 

The restaurant itself is small and packed with freshmen that probably also discovered Peter’s sources from the first page of his Google search. They order their food to go and find a bench near the river to grub. The rowing team passes by, aggressively practicing and yelling their counts. The sun is close to setting, and MJ’s forgotten what’s next on the schedule until Peter pulls out the pamphlet from his back pocket and reads it off. 

“The last thing today is a Prospective Students Mixer. The description says _we do not serve non-alcoholic drinks_.”

“Guess we’re not going,” MJ shrugs. Peter chuckles until he notices the serious look on her face. “What?”

“You don’t want to go?” he asks. 

“Eh,” she says. “Prospective students means that some of these fools haven’t even submitted their intent to register. I’m not going to meet someone new and make friends with them just to find out they’re not coming here.”

“Oh, okay,” Peter accepts. “Well, what do you want to do, Miss Harvard?”

MJ hopes the look on her face isn’t noticeably uncomfortable with the nickname. She keeps chewing her last bite of a black bean burger, stalling to answer the question. Peter, eyes wide and excited for their next stop, watches her. 

She doesn’t have an answer after she swallows her burger. “No idea.”

“Okay,” he knits his eyebrows. “It’s okay!” 

Peter pulls out his phone to conduct extended research on Harvard’s nightlife. He scoots himself closer to MJ, their bodies touching. She rests her head on his shoulder and looks at his phone screen as he begins to scroll down for both of them. If MJ could tell him the truth, she’d tell him she wants to go back to the dorm and sleep. Or go back to Queens and never step foot in Harvard again because time stopped, so they won’t graduate. 

“Art museums,” he reads. “They close at 5 on normal days but since it’s Welcome Weekend they’re open until 8:30.”

“Sure,” she says.

The courtyard of the museum has high ceilings and an open skylight - the sunset has now transitioned into a baby blue, right before the stars begin their night shift. The hallways are empty, scattered with a few future freshmen who, like MJ and Peter, opted out of the awkward mixer the university is hosting. Walking through the empty art collections and holding Peter’s hand reminds her of New York, and their dates at the MET or MoMA, and how Peter would ask her questions about everything as if she was a curator. She always knew the answers, though.

This time around, Peter doesn’t ask her anything – they walk through the works silently, reading the descriptions to themselves. Once in a while, Peter’s thumb rubs across her fingers, reminding her that he’s still there, and while MJ doesn’t know what’s running through his mind at this exact moment, she knows he can feel the way her hands are more tense than usual. Still, she doesn’t talk about her fears because, for as scared as she is to move away from her home, Peter appears to bask in this glory – to be excited for her. She doesn’t want to ruin his excitement with ridiculous thoughts about homesickness.

Peter and MJ spend two hours roaming the museum, and they retire to the dorm quickly. Peter quickly grabs his shower essentials and books it to the communal restrooms, saying something about how he’s happy he doesn’t need to experience sharing restrooms with hundreds of other boys. The mention of Peter not going to college strikes a chord in MJ’s heart, remembering that his decision to stay in New York and go to ESU turned into a big argument of theirs. 

In the middle of their family dinner, Peter had to leave in an emergency operation led by Captain America. It was Captain’s first operation after the mess that Thanos caused, and it was important. May was reluctant, as always, but she hid those feelings as she and MJ waved Peter goodbye and waited in their living room for his return. 

“I’ll never get used to it,” May said, “but I’m a little relieved he’s not moving out for college. I’d rather know what’s happening with him. At least for the first year.”

MJ’s eyes went wide. “No MIT?” 

May softened her look. “Oh, honey.”

When Peter returned at 1am, MJ didn’t leave his place until 3:30am, and although the plan was for her to sleep over, she couldn’t stomach looking at Peter knowing that he had been avoiding telling her until she submitted her intent to register at a college. He mentioned, “I don’t want you to stop your life for me.”

She appreciates it now, but sometimes she thinks – although she’d never shift her own life course for anyone – Columbia wasn’t a bad choice either. But living in regret of her choices is the last thing that MJ wants knowing that she has her future ahead, the future she’s been planning for since her father was still alive, her future of social work and advocacy. 

There’s room in the world for more superheroes. 

The thought of her future comforts her, MJ drifting into sleep as she hears the dorm room open and smells the fresh scent of Peter’s shampoo fill the room. There’s a ruffle of towels before she hears the bed creak and feels Peter slip inside. She faces away from him, but in a few beats feels his warm arms hug her, spooning her like her own personal blanket. She feels warm. Safe. At home. And she loves this – being able to sleep next to him in her own single bedroom, hoping that they’ll find time to have nights like this, hoping that Peter won’t get hurt while she’s gone, but knowing damn well that’s impossible. 

Her breathing gets heavier, and Peter’s arms squeeze her tighter, making her feel relaxed and helping her drift to slumber. Slowly, she closes her eyes and lets the fears leave her head, allowing her mind to rest. 

“I love you,” he whispers into her ear.

“I love you,” she says.

* * *

The piercing alarm wakes both of them up at 9am, and when MJ wakes up, she still feels the weight of those fears from the day before holding her shoulders down. She knows the tight feeling will last the whole weekend, and accepts the anxiety of going through a two-hour college tour knowing she’s not completely comfortable being on her new campus yet. 

“So we’re going to do a Crimson Key Tour instead of the official registration one. I read that it’s an organization led by students, so it’s less awkward and forced,” Peter says, slipping onto his pants as MJ walks back into the room from the restrooms. The walk to and from the hallway will be her villain origin story once the semester starts. 

“Okay,” she says.

“Then I’m thinking we can try another one of those restaurants in Harvard Square,” he continues. “I heard there’s a vegan café and you’ll probably appreciate that.” 

“Sounds good, Pete.”

“Then I saw on the schedule that a bunch of clubs is going to be scattered all over campus, so you can go and check those out and prepare yourself for if you want to do a bunch of extracurriculars on campus.”

“Awesome,” she slips on her Sylvia Plath shirt and sits on the bed to put on her socks and shoes. 

Peter sits next to her and kisses her forehead. “Then maybe you can go to your sociology department building. Scope the area. Find some good places to study.” 

“Got the whole day planned out,” she states. 

“I’m really excited for you, Em.” he kisses her lips. 

“I can tell,” she smiles. “Thank you.”

* * *

Their day goes as planned. The tour is still awkward because the group MJ and Peter are with are on the quiet side (MJ included), and the tour guide, Matt, doesn’t do much to ask questions or engage with the crowd. As always, Peter doesn’t stop chatting with Matt – asking rankings and research opportunities and best places for social life. When Matt asks Peter what major he’s doing, Peter responds, “Biomedical engineering and maybe a Spanish minor.”

Dork.

By the time they’re walking off the salads that they (Peter) reluctantly ate for lunch, MJ’s exhausted. She wants to sit on the bench by the river again like the night before. She wants to slow down in getting familiar with this new and strange place because the moment she feels comfortable in this place is the moment MJ feels she’ll finally leave the past behind. 

She’s not ready to say goodbye, but when Peter drags her to the lawn where clubs are tabling and advertising, it surely feels like Peter’s ready.

“If there’s a Star Wars club, can you join for me?” he begs. 

She shakes her head. “If I join a Star Wars club, it’d be for myself.”

“You’re the best,” he gushes. 

Peter walks over to a table with a bike machine, making conversation with someone wearing a shirt that says “Be Well.” When MJ catches up to him, her legs are jello from all the walking they’ve done. Immediately, she regrets choosing her big and thick boots to lug her all over the place. She needs to invest in good sneaker shoes or a bike if she doesn’t want to be winded every time she goes to lecture. 

When she gets to the booth, Peter on the bike, the machine linked to a blender with frozen fruits and yogurt creating a perfect smoothie. The student tabling Peter hands two cups of smoothie for him, and he hands one over to MJ.

“My exercise got you these smoothies, Em,” he gulps down the mix of strawberry, mango, and pineapple.

As they walk away from the booth, MJ retorts, “I wish your Spider-Manning made me smoothies every night.” 

He laughs. “Now that you’ll be in a different state you won’t have to worry about me coming home late.”

“I’m always going to be worried, Pete,” she says, a little frustrated that Peter would assume something like that from her.

“But your mind is going to be so wrapped in being a new college student, your new classes, and making new friends. You’re going to be really busy,” he explains. Although he doesn’t sound like he’s arguing, and he sounds far from understanding that MJ’s upset, she scoffs. 

“As if you’re not always busy already.”

“What?” he says, tossing the empty smoothie cup into a trash can. 

“What do you need me to explain, Spider-Man?” she asks. 

“Where is this coming from?” he puts a hand on her shoulder, ushering her away from the crowd so they can talk about his identity in private. 

“Nothing,” MJ says. “Nothing. It’s just… nothing. Look, there’s a Mock U.N.,” she walks away from him. 

She pretends not to hear him call out, “Michelle…”

Her comment slows down Peter’s excitement. He’s no longer hopping from table to table searching for freebies. He lingers next to MJ, who’s selective about the organizations she introduces herself to. She knows Peter’s trying to figure out what to say, trying to figure out how to continue the conversation without pulling sensitive chords. As they walk through the crowds, he looks confused, as he should. 

MJ knows she has no reason to act irrationally. But she does it anyway because nothing about going to college is known to her. Peter can do all the research he wants about popular places in Harvard, and the professors or tour guides can spit out rankings that make the university even more esteemed, but at the bottom of it, college is still new. College is still confusing and she’s still scared, so give her a break if she’s _acting out_.

“I’m sorry,” she starts after they make their way to the end of the organization’s tables. “For being upset earlier.”

“MJ, it’s okay,” he says and pulls her into a hug. “I’m just confused.”

There, in the middle of her future campus, next to a coffee stand, MJ starts tearing up. “I’m just scared of all of this, okay?”

“What do you mean?” 

“All of this,” she throws her arms around the air. “College. Moving away. Not being around you, or Ned, or Aunt May every day.”

Peter frowns. “I get it.”

“But you don’t, Peter. You’re staying in New York,” she says. “You get to keep living the same life. You’re not going to face a big change.”

“Yes I will,” he says. “I’m not going to see you anymore, Em. And I think about that every day.”

“You do?” she asks, sniffling.

“Of course I do!” he laughs, pulling her in again as he kisses the top of her nose. “I just don’t want to mention it… well because we haven’t graduated yet, and I don’t want to ruin college for you. This is your journey. Your future.”

She laughs, wiping her tears. “Wanna hear something dumb?”

“I bet it’s not dumb.”

“I was sad that you were excited this whole weekend because I thought you weren’t going to miss me.”

“MJ,” he places his hand on his heart. He doesn’t say anything else, the only thing he does is give her a big kiss on the lips, soft and slow. “I’m going to miss you very much.”

“I’m going to miss you, too,” her lips tremble again. Peter soothes them with his own lips.

“It’s gonna be okay. We’re going to be okay.”

* * *

When MJ wakes up the next morning, her legs ache from traveling to and from different halls and lawns. She’s sure the two of them circle around the campus _three times_ throughout their stay. Peter’s still snoring, loudly into her ear, but she turns around to face him. His eyes are tucked shut and his mouth open and MJ thinks she can see dried up drool at the corner of his lips. In his sleep, his arms reach over to her, trying to pull her close. She sinks lower and rests her head against his chest. He kisses the top of her bed head. 

She recalls the last stop they made at the sociology department, Peter exploring the hallways so she can go to the office and talk to a peer advisor. When she stepped outside of chatting with an upcoming senior, the fear in MJ’s chest disappeared knowing she made the right choice in going to Harvard – that she’s going to make lives better and become someone she’s proud of. 

The words of the senior peer advisor, Kim, echoed in her head as she listened to the beat of Peter’s heart. 

“Freshman year I was so scared because I wanted to impress everyone back home,” Kim starts. “I’m from Long Beach in California, and not everyone from there gets to go to Harvard. I used to think I needed to make my parents proud, my friends back home, and my boyfriend at the time.”

Kim sighs, eyes washed with nostalgia as if she longs for her past, but at the same time, she looks out the window and says, “All I know now is that I’m proud of myself, and that’s all that matters.”

Peter’s heart starts to beat faster as he yawns, “Good morning.”

“It’s 11:30am, Peter.”

“ _AM._ Still morning. Ready to go back to New York?”

She is – and maybe she’s not ready to leave New York completely, but now she knows she can make it back to Harvard with more confidence in herself than when she left two days ago. 

“Yeah, let’s go,” she kisses his nose.

* * *

The road back to New York is lengthy. Three and a half hours turned into six because of the weekend traffic, everyone going back to the city to recharge and start another working week that MJ will soon come to be familiar with after graduating, but she doesn’t want to get ahead of herself. 

She has a problem with that, letting the future consume her or letting the past hold her back, never truly knowing what it feels like to be content with the present or be aware of what’s happening. Peter’s chatty in the first half of their car ride, his hand holding hers as he talks about the different clubs he thinks he would join if he got to go to Harvard.

“Maybe you should have applied,” MJ says, hands wrapped around her knees as her feet are propped on the passenger seat. 

Peter shakes his head. “You know I couldn’t have.”

She knows. Spider-Man. Responsibility. The suit that has given him so much power, yet it’s making him stay in the same place he’s always known, risking his life every night as he patrols the streets. “In a perfect world.”

“Yeah,” he lets out. “In a perfect world.” 

“Two weeks until we graduate,” she says.

“Don’t remind me.”

“I am _always_ going to be the bearer of news.” 

“I wish time would stop,” Peter repeats the feeling MJ’s had since she woke up two days ago, dreading the college tour despite the fact that she knows she’s privileged to be able to attend an Ivy League. 

“Me too,” MJ’s eyelids feel heavier and heavier, the 3pm wave of sunshine slowly dwindling down as the sky reaches her favorite time of day. “Stop the whole world, so it can be just us for a while. Can spiders time travel?”

“No, but I know a doctor that can,” he replies. “But I don’t think Stephen Strange cares too much about our reluctance to graduate high school as much as he cares about keeping the world in balance.” 

“High schools are humans too,” she says and chuckles, closing her eyes completely.

“Getting tired?” Peter asks, squeezing her hand before letting go, rubbing her thigh softly. 

“Don’t hate me if I fall asleep?” she tries, not waiting for his answer before knocking out completely.

* * *

MJ feels repeated pokes to her shoulder. “Hey. Hey. Wake up. We’re here.” 

She opens her eyes slowly, but they are nowhere near Queens. “Where did you kidnap me to?” 

“Two things,” Peter turns off the engine of the car. “So I exited the highway because I wanted to take a rest stop, but I found a place on the way back home that you’ll love. And two...”

He reaches over to the back seat and tosses a brown paper bag in her lap. She opens it immediately and laughs.

“Is this a veggie hoagie?” she asks, wondering if Peter drove all the way to Delmar’s and took her to some random spot to make her eat another one of these sandwiches. “From where?”

“I remember you looked really bummed about missing Delmar’s,” he says. “So when you were talking to your sociology department, I conducted more research to find a place that serves your favorite sandwich.”

Her heart flutters. Because of a sandwich, of all things. “Peter.”

“MJ,” he jumps in his seat. “Get this. There’s a sandwich shop on campus about ten minutes from the sociology department and ten minutes from the freshman dorms. Just like Delmar’s.”

She opens the bag and takes the soggy sandwich out. 

“It’s probably not as good as Delmar’s, but it might help with your homesickness,” he takes his hand and pushes a strand of her loose hair behind her ear. “And listen…”

“Hmm?” she says, mouth full of hoagie. 

“You’re going to be okay,” he says. “New things are scary and overwhelming, but I know you, Em. You are so _freaking_ smart and brave. You can do this.”

One single wet trail falls down her cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you,” he unbuckles his seatbelt and opens the door. “Now come and look at this place.” 

She steps out of her side of the car, leaving the sandwich in the passenger seat as she takes in the view. Peter parked the old car in a tucked-away pocket, behind shrubbery and bushes that glow from the reflection of the moon. They’re near the state intersection, but the city’s pollution is still far enough that the air is clearer and the stars are out. 

“It’s a little hideaway cliff that I found when looking for a rest stop,” he says, bending down on the ground and picking MJ up. She sinks into his arms as he lifts her on top of the car seamlessly. “It’s beautiful, right?”

She looks at Peter’s face in awe of the stretch of city lights and stars, smiling as she says, “yes.”

He squeezes his body in between her legs as she drapes them over Peter’s shoulders. Her hands find a familiar spot at the top of his curls, digging into it and massaging the ungelled strands. The air is still around them, the evening chill making MJ wrap herself closer onto Peter. The silence is almost as overwhelming as the view. 

Everything feels frozen. Like time stopped just for the two of them to experience this secret place together, and maybe she doesn’t know where they exactly are and maybe she doesn’t know where life will take them in the future, but right now – with Peter leaning against the car as she sits on top of it, playing with his hair and watching the world spin right before their eyes – she wouldn’t want to be anywhere else. 

“We can stop here whenever,” he says. “If you ever want to pick me up because you’re sick of taking the train. Or if you just want to be alone and hide from the world that doesn’t know how to stop sometimes… I can take you here, Em.” 

“Thanks,” she kisses the top of his head. 

“Look,” he stretches his hand out to the sky. “It’s a shooting star! Make a wish – you know those are really rare to come by.”

She looks at Peter like he’s her own shooting star, rare and bright, and a dream come true. Then, she realizes that shooting stars are fleeting, they come and go through the sky when you need to see it and create a spark of hope in your chest just for that moment. But her time with Peter isn’t fleeting – despite having a couple of weeks left with him before graduating. 

It may be naive, but MJ has hope in the both of them – that even if they fall apart one way or another throughout her time in college, she knows in her heart that they’ll find each other again because that is their way and that is how they love each other. 

“Do you have a wish?” Peter asks, bringing his hand to hers, intertwining their fingers as he squeezes hers softly. 

“Yeah,” she answers him confidently knowing that the one wish she ever needs is right in front of her, a dopey smile and messy hair and a heart of gold. “I have my wish.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Oh, and Class of 2020, congratulations. ♥
> 
> Follow me on Tumblr, if ya want. @spideysmjs.


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